# Bark in a dark and moody room

Bark, from the Stanton Pinehill line, is a dark vinyl plank with a golden undertone (LRV 8 measured from its own picture). Here it is with Thunder walls, Swiss Coffee trim, and Upward on the cabinets, chosen by the numbers.

A vision board by Powell Flooring, 1811 Union Valley Rd, West Milford, NJ 07480, 973-728-9717. AI assisted: the rooms are AI generated, simulated photos; the floor, the paint colors and every number are real.
Page: https://www.powellflooring.com/vision-boards/bark-dark-moody

## The floor
- Bark, Stanton Pinehill: Waterproof vinyl plank · WPC · 9 in (SKU 12853)
- Price: $4.49 per sq ft · $119.30 a carton. Material only. Delivery and installation extra.
- Every color and detail: https://www.powellflooring.com/floors/stanton/pinehill/bark

## Measured from its own picture
- LRV (light reflectance value, 0 black to 100 white): 8
- CIELAB (D65): L* 33.9, a* 4.4, b* 15.2, chroma 15.9, hue 73.8 degrees
- Undertone: a golden undertone, warm without leaning red
- The grain and color of Bark move from board to board (a spread of 4.1 in L*), which helps hide everyday wear.

## Paint
- Walls: Thunder (Benjamin Moore AF-685, LRV 47.6, +39.6 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 92°), so Bark stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/af-685/thunder
- Or walls: Repose Gray (Sherwin-Williams SW 7015, LRV 58.2, +50.2 from the floor). A soft neutral with a touch of warmth (hue 97°), so Bark stays golden without turning yellow. Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/neutral-paint-colors/sw7015-repose-gray/
- Trim and ceilings: Swiss Coffee (Benjamin Moore OC-45, LRV 81.9). 74 points over Bark in LRV and warm enough (chroma 5.7) to read white, not blue, beside its golden undertone. Source: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/oc-45/swiss-coffee
- Cabinets: Upward (Sherwin-Williams SW 6239, LRV 57.4). A light color with some life in it, so cabinets float off Bark (a 49 point step in LRV). Source: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-family/blue-paint-colors/sw6239-upward/
- Cabinets in Upward or Swiss Coffee: a dark floor needs light cabinets to float above it.

## Wood, rugs and metals
- Wood a step lighter: a honey tone, like our Golden Oak stain sample. About 18 points lighter than Bark in L* (51 against 34).
- Rug or fabric, tone on tone: mushroom (#9e948a). 7 in chroma, half the warmth of Bark (16), and 28 points lighter in L*.
- Rug or fabric, across the wheel: slate blue (#8c9dac). Hue 254°, straight across the color wheel from the 74° of Bark, softened to balance it.
- Rug or fabric, grounding: fog gray (#cbc2ba). A light note at L* 79, 45 points from the 34 of Bark, so a rug keeps its edge.
- Metal: aged brass. A warm metal that agrees with the golden undertone of Bark (hue 74°).
- Metal: unlacquered brass. Left unsealed, it darkens with handling to a softer warm tone beside Thunder walls.
- Metal: matte black. Black works with every undertone; beside Bark at LRV 8 it gives the room its outline.

## Room by room
- Living room: Thunder walls and Swiss Coffee trim over Bark, velvet in mushroom with a slate blue pillow, aged brass lamps on low.
- Kitchen: Cabinets in Upward so they float off Bark, Swiss Coffee walls and trim, unlacquered brass pulls.
- Bedroom: Repose Gray walls, mushroom bedding, nightstands in a honey tone, matte black on the lamps.
- Entry: A fog gray runner on Bark, Upward on the door, an unlacquered brass mirror.

## What to avoid
- Walls at the lightness of Bark: Urbane Bronze (Sherwin-Williams SW 7048, LRV 8.1) sits within a point of its LRV of 8, so wall and floor would blur into one.
- Wood that almost matches Bark: a tone like our Jacobean sample, 4.7 apart (CIEDE2000), reads as a near miss. Go clearly darker or lighter.
- Walls that lean yellow: yellow on yellow flattens the golden undertone of Bark (hue 74°).

## The room it suits
- At LRV 8, Bark is dark: it is at its best in a big room with good light and warm lamps, and it shows dust, pet hair and fine scratches more than a mid tone.
- At 9 inches a board, Bark lays about 16 boards across a 12 foot room, so the room reads open with few seams.
- Bark is waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, baths, mudrooms and basements as well as living spaces.
- Core: WPC, a wood plastic composite core (a little softer and quieter underfoot)
- Water: Waterproof (the maker's word) (wet mopping is fine; a flood is not)

## Sources
- Paint names, codes, hex and LRV as Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore publish them (each color links to its page).
- BS 8300-2:2018 asks for a difference of at least 30 LRV points between adjacent surfaces, such as a floor and a wall, so the surfaces read apart.
- The floor measured from its own picture in CIELAB (D65); the wood tones from our own photographs of 37 stains on oak.